I have been involved in boxing for nearly four decades first as an amateur, (former Tidewater champion and Virginia Golden Gloves champion and New York Golden Gloves Champion)and then professionally (former world champion)and now as a coach. USA Boxing has been a most important presence in boxing for generations and does an outstanding job advocating for the sport and protecting the athletes. What is not broken does not need to be fixed. MMA and Kickboxing have not had the kind of governance that boxing has experienced so it makes sense and is appropriate to establish laws to protect those athletes but why interfere with a system that has been working well for decades? To add additional legislation to amateur boxing is overreaching and unnecessary. USA Boxing has the method in place for medical assistance, judges and oversight and it is affordable for the local boxing clubs to provide a safe venue for athletes to compete. The current sanctioning fees for MMA and related events are far more expensive than those for amateur boxing and are cost prohibitive comparatively speaking to USA Boxing which has the process down to a science, has the organizational infrastructure that the other genres of the sport do not yet have. For the good of the sport of boxing, YOU MUST AMEND THE AMATEUR BOXING LAW THAT INTO EFFECT OCT 1, 2015 TO EXCEPT USA BOXING SANCTIONED TRADITIONAL AMATEUR BOXING.MAKE USA BOXING THE GOVERNING BODY & SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION FOR ALL TRADITIONAL AMATEUR BOXING IN VIRGINIA. I OPPOSE VA HOUSE BILL NO. 1228 OF JANUARY 19, 2016 AS IT IS CURRENTLY WRITTEN.